FIZBERS

2018 saw the band back with their second album, and it is a shame their website hasn't been updated as I am having to guess some of what happened in between. Although he appears on the album, I get the impression that Szymon Kubala may not actually be in the band anymore, as Dawid also added guitars this time, and there is a guest guitarist in Wiktor Batek (along with an additional singer in Milena Locksmith) and the band photo only features Dawid and Dominik. Between the two of them they also provided all the material. There is much more guitar on this album, with quite a lot of distorted fuzz in the background, and the whole feeling is much more upbeat than the debut. There is still the large concentration on vocals, but less piano and more bass, and it is far mro dynamic.

The addition of Milena for "54" is a touch of genius, as her Floydian "Gig At The End Of The Universe'-style introduction takes the song in a totally new direction. Piano, warm bass, and strong vocals from Dawid and Milena is for me the highlight of the album, as although they still have the naivety so prevalent on the debut, here they are showing confidence and here is the first time where one can see this band being around for quite a while, as the change in attack and approach after three minutes is both unexpected and pleasing. The band have also got to a point where they decide they are going to close with a 17-minute epic in the title cut, which is again somewhat unexpected given their style of material which doesn't really lend itself to really long numbers. But, with plenty of acoustic guitar, loads of space between the layers and a lot of atmosphere, it somehow works even though there are times when it is at risk of going in the wrong direction as it is so laid back.

As with the debut this is an album which shows promise, but we are still some way off from the finished article and it will be interesting indeed to see what comes next as they are certainly progressing in terms of songwriting and confidence.

As one may surmise from the album title, this 2017 album was the debut from this Krakow-based trio featuring Dawid Lewandowski (vocals, bass), Dominik Pawlus (keyboards, drums) and Szymon Kubala (guitars). Something I also noted was this album was produced by Ryszard Kramarski, who as well as running the record label is a well-known musician in his own right, both solo and with Millenium, one of the most popular Polish progressive bands. As soon as I started playing this I was transported back in time, as if ever an album is reminiscent of the Nineties neo-prog scene then this is it. From the production, through the vocals and arrangements it is like walking through a time warp. The more I played it, the more names such as Primitive Instinct and Landmarq started popping into my head, along with early Galahad and Pendragon.

For the most part this is laid-back prog, with little of the rock part. The band (from looking at the photo in the booklet) are all relatively young, and it could be 1991 all over again. There is quite a concentration on vocals, with piano, keyboards and guitar mostly kept in the background unless there is a solo to be had, and little in the way of complex structure that one would normally expect from the genre. However, there is something in here which shows promise, something about the songs that makes one feel it is worth persevering with. It is a band learning their way, still not sure what they want to achieve, and if this was the Eighties this probably wouldn't have made it past a demo tape stage, but the sheer naivety of it does provide it an additional edge which is often missing in the highly complex and complicated arrangements which are often de rigeur in prog at times. Interesting and fun if not exactly essential.

"FIRST REVIEW OF THIS ALBUM"

In my review about the debut album First Mind (2017) by Polish Neo-Prog band Fizbers I wrote: "This promising new Polish prog formation reminds me of Pendragon, also a band with simply structured music, with the focus on melody, harmony and emotion. I am looking forward to the development of Fizbers!" So I was very curious to its successor, entitled Die Without A Living and released in 2018.

Well, on this second effort again the focus is on melody, harmony, and emotion, this time dark, very dark emotion, as the depressive title of the album already suggests. Remarkable is often how close the singer sounds to Nick Barrett from Pendragon. In the track 54 female guest singer Milena Locksmith colours the emotional vocals about a relationship with high pitched vocals, the slightly hysterical undertone emphasizes the anger and despair.

Of course we can expect dark atmospheres with this kind of dark lyrics, and indeed, most of the 7 compositions feature melancholical climates and vocals, often dreamy with tender piano and acoustic guitar (especially They Fade, Shape). But often halfway the mellow and dark music turns into a catchy beat or heavy outbursts and bombastic eruptions. During these moments the electric guitar work is outstanding, very moving, with howling, fiery, crying, moving and blistering soli. And I am blown away by the raw wah-wah guitar in the strong opener I Am The Remedy. The guitar is really an ace on this album, not only electric but also acoustic.

The absolute highlight on this album is the final composition, the titletrack, clocking around 17 minutes. It starts dreamy featuring acoustic guitars, tender piano and melancholical vocals. Then an accellaration, followed by a serie of shifting moods, from mellow to bombastic, wonderfully coloured by guitars, vocals and keyboards. The conclusion of this epic composition is very compelling: after a surprising swinging rhythm with piano, an interlude with warm piano follows, then sensitive electric guitar runs, an accelaration with sparkling piano and fiery guitar work, a short dreamy piano piece, culminating in a bombastic outburst with powerful, melancholical vocals, emphasizing the basic mood of this album, dark, very dark.

An interesting album, this band deserves a wider audience.

My rating: 3,5 star.

This review was previously published in a slighty different version on the Dutch progrock website Background Magazine.

Thanks to Google Translate I could find a bit more information about the band its history. Fisbers is rooted in April 2016 when school friends wanted to make music, in the weekend they got permission to rehearsal in the percussion room. Their first gig one month later didn't turn out very well and the band decided to change their musical direction into progressive rock. Ryszard Kramarski (an icon of Polish progressive rock) - also took part in this decision as a friend of Dominika he promised to record the newly formed band in his own studio during the next year's holiday. The original version of First Mind was composed and at that time, the name of the band was derived from the song Planet Of Wolves. In June the first rehearsal of the band took place, with Dawid Lewandowski (a friend of the previous bassist), and Fizbers created more and more rock arrangements of their works, which were composed just before the band's creation. Songs such as Ashes, Normality and Lady With No Real Name were born slowly. In April 2017, the first demo of the album was composed, consisting of 13 songs. After the selection made by Ryszard Kramarski on May 27, the first serious meeting in the studio took place, and the band made the final decision to record the album entitled First Mind.

Fizbers its music is simply structured but wonderfully coloured with strong and emotional vocals, moving guitar work, tasteful keyboard play and a solid rhythm-section. To me this bands sounds as inspired progheads who wanted to make prog themselves and who have put their entire soul into the music.

Especially on the compositions Factory (varied guitar play, beautiful violin and melancholical vocals), First Mind (strong build- up,sparkling piano and wah wah guitar), the very compelling Death (from tender piano and moving vocals to beautiful violin and sensitive electric guitar), and the final song the mid-long and alternating Ashes: wonderful work on guitar, keyboards, violin, halfway an exciting build-up from dreamy to bombastic with wah wah guitar and emotional work on the piano, in combination with emotional vocals, a wonderful conclusion!

This promising new Polish prog formation reminds me of Pendragon, also a band with simply structured music, with the focus on melody, harmony and emotion. Meanwhile Fizbers has released its second CD entitled Die Without A Living (2018), as the title suggests more melancholical, the varied and dynamic titletrack is the absolute highlight!

My rating: 3,5 star.

This review was previously published in a slightly different version on the Dutch progrock website Background Magazine.